Post by rosegriffin on Mar 5, 2014 10:41:56 GMT
My name is Rose Griffin and I have lived in Bowers Gifford for 33 years. I live in Westlake Avenue.
I am a Parish Councillor and one of the Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet representative on the newly formed Flood Risk Action Group known as the FRAG – a group formed in neighbouring Rawreth with the help of the Flood Forum – a national charity set up to help people whose homes are at risk of flooding.
However, by far the largest organisation which I represent is the Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet Residents Association (RA). People from Pitsea have also joined the Association, and signed our petition, because there is no such group in Pitsea. In fact our biggest donor comes from Pitsea. No local people want development on Little Chalvedon Hall Farm (LCHF) this slender belt of green which separates our villages from the small town of Pitsea. This stretch of green belt is welcomed by all in this well developed area of South Essex.
I don’t want to repeat the things that are written in the 300 letters of objection from 239 homes – they are there in Basildon’s files for you to read. I would however draw your attention to the photos in A4 word format which show some of the flooded areas surrounding Little Chalvedon Hall Farm.
The RA has also written responses to the reports submitted by Meridian in support of its Application to build on our green belt. Those responses, with their numerous queries and contradictions made to Meridian’s statements, were sent to Basildon Council who in turn sent them Meridian but we have not received any reply or counter arguments. The RA responses to Meridian are also in the Basildon Council file.
What I do want to say is that Basildon Council has to build another 12,500 homes by 2031 as part of its new core strategy. Most people think that this is too many particularly because new local builds are not currently selling. Of this 12,500 Basildon are looking to build 2,300 in the North East Basildon Urban extension which includes North Benfleet and about another 300 in the Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet plot lands. Consultation has already started and the Leader of the Council attended the RA meeting on 5th February. The RA has taken a neutral stance at the moment and is only acting as a communication vehicle. However, the feedback that I am getting at the moment is that if development has to happen that Basildon Council’s plan to build along the A127 corridor is by far the lesser of two evils compared to building on LCHF – particularly because the Basildon Council proposal could enable exit and access routes without using Pound Lane, Burnt Mills Road or Rectory Road.
The RA raised the question as to whether we could still draw up our own Neighbourhood Plan and Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon Council, has suggested that we liaise with Basildon’s Planning and Policy Department and the Parish Council. The Neighbourhood Plan proposal is on the RA agenda this evening (25th Feb) and on the pre-agenda meeting of the Parish Council tomorrow (26th Feb) – the Local Plan is on the Parish Council Agenda for tomorrow and a Basildon Council Planning Policy Manager will attend.
As I said the Residents Association has adopted a neutral stance at the moment but are working to ensure local awareness and the importance of providing feedback. Such plans are not always easy for laymen to understand so consultation takes time and patience. Residents are currently asking questions, a lot of questions, and Basildon Council are answering them – my email system is hard evidence of this. The RA was set up originally to fight Meridian’s plans to build on our greenbelt but has become almost a full time unpaid job for me.
Whilst a Neighbourhood Plan would give us no control over the number of houses which Basildon has to build locally we can have a measure of control over the quality and design of those dwellings. More importantly we could also have a measure of control about where they are situated. We live in an area which is prone to flooding and with a poor road infrastructure which was not built for the number of proposed dwellings. Bowers Gifford (Bueres pre-Domesday Book and Bures Giffard after the Norman invasion) was known as the village on the marshes and when I moved here there were still a lot of wooden dwellings built off of the ground to protect them from the dampness held in the clay soil. The Anglo Saxon name for Benfleet was Baemfloet which literally means floating wood – in other words it was a swamp. The name Pitsea speaks for itself - most of it was once below sea level.
The Flood Risk Action Group was formed at the end of last year, in the neighbouring village of Rawreth, following a number of houses, which had not previously flooded being submerged in water up to the window ledges. In the last few years farmers in Rawreth and the Equestrian Centre have reported fields which have not previously flooded as being waterlogged. The blame for this sudden increase in water has been blamed on a new estate with a SUDS system that does not work in clay soil, and the building of a new supermarket coupled with poor calculation of the amount of drainage from the new A130.
Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet has suffered similar heavy water waterlogging and some flooding. Last year was the first time that I had to pump water out of my garden – our property backs on to Little Chalvedon Hall Farm. Indeed 5 of the houses in Osborne Road right next to the proposed development have received grants to help flood prevention. Other properties have simply put in their own flood prevention mechanisms.
The end of Pound Land is often flooded. Drainage builds up here because it cannot get under the A127 quickly enough. When it does then the situation in Rawreth is worsened.
What the Flood Forum, the national charity, which has help set up the Flood Risk Action Group has found is that, as with other areas in the country, the various agencies do not have sufficient communication with each other and the lack of a “joined up approach” has led to flooding. The Flood Forum is seeking to arrange a meeting between the FRAG, Essex County Council, Rochford Council, Basildon Council, Billericay Town Council, Chelmsford Council, the various water agencies operating locally including Anglian Water, and the Environment Agency. Following a discussion to identify how things have gone so badly wrong in the past then the Flood Forum hope to make the FRAG a consultative body in all future core strategies and possibly large planning applications. The Flood Forum has said that they have set up such groups in other parts of the country and whilst they cannot undo the damage done that they can help to prevent future flooding and devastation of homes and communities.
Basildon Council’s proposals to build along the A127 corridor would certainly have a lesser effect on Bowers Gifford, Pitsea and North Benfleet. We still worry about the effect on local roads such as Rectory Road, Pound Lane and Burnt Mills Road but we think that solutions can be found. Basildon have said that they will help protect some of the historic buildings and rural areas and, we think that as part of a Neighbourhood Plan, this is achievable. Flooding is more of a worry because whereas our Council’s plan seems more practical as far as Basildon is concerned – any development here may have an impact on neighbouring Rawreth – this is why we need a joined up approach to planning and this takes time.
The current coalition government supports localism in planning. If local people are involved in the planning process then it is more likely that the Council can take its communities with it even if the overall plan is unpopular.
We have a good liaison with Basildon Council Officers. All the organisations I represent are non-political. Even if there was a change of Council in the forthcoming elections we believe that we would work equally as well with any new group. We are not aware of any member of any political party on this council who supports Meridian’s proposed development.
Local people see the Application from Meridian is an aggressive intervention into our local planning process and liaisons with our Council. Little Chalvedon Hall Farm was purchased by Nottingham Council without any consultation about a proposed development. Indeed a letter from Nottingham Council stated that it had bought the land as a long term investment as a working farm. Within two years came the planning application at a time when our elected council were trying to put together a strategy which local people could approve.
Meridian’s proposal to build on our little bit of greenbelt which, if you look at any map, you will see also acts as a wildlife corridor, does not have the approval of 99% of local people.
On behalf of the Parish Council, Residents Association and the Flood Risk Action Group I ask the Planning Inspector to please recommend that local planning be left to our locally elected council.
I am willing to answer any questions on behalf of the organisations I represent.
I am a Parish Councillor and one of the Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet representative on the newly formed Flood Risk Action Group known as the FRAG – a group formed in neighbouring Rawreth with the help of the Flood Forum – a national charity set up to help people whose homes are at risk of flooding.
However, by far the largest organisation which I represent is the Bowers Gifford & North Benfleet Residents Association (RA). People from Pitsea have also joined the Association, and signed our petition, because there is no such group in Pitsea. In fact our biggest donor comes from Pitsea. No local people want development on Little Chalvedon Hall Farm (LCHF) this slender belt of green which separates our villages from the small town of Pitsea. This stretch of green belt is welcomed by all in this well developed area of South Essex.
I don’t want to repeat the things that are written in the 300 letters of objection from 239 homes – they are there in Basildon’s files for you to read. I would however draw your attention to the photos in A4 word format which show some of the flooded areas surrounding Little Chalvedon Hall Farm.
The RA has also written responses to the reports submitted by Meridian in support of its Application to build on our green belt. Those responses, with their numerous queries and contradictions made to Meridian’s statements, were sent to Basildon Council who in turn sent them Meridian but we have not received any reply or counter arguments. The RA responses to Meridian are also in the Basildon Council file.
What I do want to say is that Basildon Council has to build another 12,500 homes by 2031 as part of its new core strategy. Most people think that this is too many particularly because new local builds are not currently selling. Of this 12,500 Basildon are looking to build 2,300 in the North East Basildon Urban extension which includes North Benfleet and about another 300 in the Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet plot lands. Consultation has already started and the Leader of the Council attended the RA meeting on 5th February. The RA has taken a neutral stance at the moment and is only acting as a communication vehicle. However, the feedback that I am getting at the moment is that if development has to happen that Basildon Council’s plan to build along the A127 corridor is by far the lesser of two evils compared to building on LCHF – particularly because the Basildon Council proposal could enable exit and access routes without using Pound Lane, Burnt Mills Road or Rectory Road.
The RA raised the question as to whether we could still draw up our own Neighbourhood Plan and Tony Ball, the leader of Basildon Council, has suggested that we liaise with Basildon’s Planning and Policy Department and the Parish Council. The Neighbourhood Plan proposal is on the RA agenda this evening (25th Feb) and on the pre-agenda meeting of the Parish Council tomorrow (26th Feb) – the Local Plan is on the Parish Council Agenda for tomorrow and a Basildon Council Planning Policy Manager will attend.
As I said the Residents Association has adopted a neutral stance at the moment but are working to ensure local awareness and the importance of providing feedback. Such plans are not always easy for laymen to understand so consultation takes time and patience. Residents are currently asking questions, a lot of questions, and Basildon Council are answering them – my email system is hard evidence of this. The RA was set up originally to fight Meridian’s plans to build on our greenbelt but has become almost a full time unpaid job for me.
Whilst a Neighbourhood Plan would give us no control over the number of houses which Basildon has to build locally we can have a measure of control over the quality and design of those dwellings. More importantly we could also have a measure of control about where they are situated. We live in an area which is prone to flooding and with a poor road infrastructure which was not built for the number of proposed dwellings. Bowers Gifford (Bueres pre-Domesday Book and Bures Giffard after the Norman invasion) was known as the village on the marshes and when I moved here there were still a lot of wooden dwellings built off of the ground to protect them from the dampness held in the clay soil. The Anglo Saxon name for Benfleet was Baemfloet which literally means floating wood – in other words it was a swamp. The name Pitsea speaks for itself - most of it was once below sea level.
The Flood Risk Action Group was formed at the end of last year, in the neighbouring village of Rawreth, following a number of houses, which had not previously flooded being submerged in water up to the window ledges. In the last few years farmers in Rawreth and the Equestrian Centre have reported fields which have not previously flooded as being waterlogged. The blame for this sudden increase in water has been blamed on a new estate with a SUDS system that does not work in clay soil, and the building of a new supermarket coupled with poor calculation of the amount of drainage from the new A130.
Bowers Gifford and North Benfleet has suffered similar heavy water waterlogging and some flooding. Last year was the first time that I had to pump water out of my garden – our property backs on to Little Chalvedon Hall Farm. Indeed 5 of the houses in Osborne Road right next to the proposed development have received grants to help flood prevention. Other properties have simply put in their own flood prevention mechanisms.
The end of Pound Land is often flooded. Drainage builds up here because it cannot get under the A127 quickly enough. When it does then the situation in Rawreth is worsened.
What the Flood Forum, the national charity, which has help set up the Flood Risk Action Group has found is that, as with other areas in the country, the various agencies do not have sufficient communication with each other and the lack of a “joined up approach” has led to flooding. The Flood Forum is seeking to arrange a meeting between the FRAG, Essex County Council, Rochford Council, Basildon Council, Billericay Town Council, Chelmsford Council, the various water agencies operating locally including Anglian Water, and the Environment Agency. Following a discussion to identify how things have gone so badly wrong in the past then the Flood Forum hope to make the FRAG a consultative body in all future core strategies and possibly large planning applications. The Flood Forum has said that they have set up such groups in other parts of the country and whilst they cannot undo the damage done that they can help to prevent future flooding and devastation of homes and communities.
Basildon Council’s proposals to build along the A127 corridor would certainly have a lesser effect on Bowers Gifford, Pitsea and North Benfleet. We still worry about the effect on local roads such as Rectory Road, Pound Lane and Burnt Mills Road but we think that solutions can be found. Basildon have said that they will help protect some of the historic buildings and rural areas and, we think that as part of a Neighbourhood Plan, this is achievable. Flooding is more of a worry because whereas our Council’s plan seems more practical as far as Basildon is concerned – any development here may have an impact on neighbouring Rawreth – this is why we need a joined up approach to planning and this takes time.
The current coalition government supports localism in planning. If local people are involved in the planning process then it is more likely that the Council can take its communities with it even if the overall plan is unpopular.
We have a good liaison with Basildon Council Officers. All the organisations I represent are non-political. Even if there was a change of Council in the forthcoming elections we believe that we would work equally as well with any new group. We are not aware of any member of any political party on this council who supports Meridian’s proposed development.
Local people see the Application from Meridian is an aggressive intervention into our local planning process and liaisons with our Council. Little Chalvedon Hall Farm was purchased by Nottingham Council without any consultation about a proposed development. Indeed a letter from Nottingham Council stated that it had bought the land as a long term investment as a working farm. Within two years came the planning application at a time when our elected council were trying to put together a strategy which local people could approve.
Meridian’s proposal to build on our little bit of greenbelt which, if you look at any map, you will see also acts as a wildlife corridor, does not have the approval of 99% of local people.
On behalf of the Parish Council, Residents Association and the Flood Risk Action Group I ask the Planning Inspector to please recommend that local planning be left to our locally elected council.
I am willing to answer any questions on behalf of the organisations I represent.